we've been reporting for close to an hour that paul ryan -- nbc news has multiple sources now, beyond three, indicating that ryan is going to be the pick. the campaign is not confirming anything other than that there is going to be an announcement in norfolk, virginia. i'm going to pause for a few seconds and we'll come to you at the top of the hour. >> well, good early morning. at least here on the east coast. i'm chuck todd in washington. breaking news. the mitt romney vice presidential short list is looking a lot shorter. sources tell nbc news mitt romney will pick congressman paul ryan of wisconsin. the announcement expected at 9:00 this morning, about eight hours from now in virginia. the announcement will be made in front of the uss wisconsin. which some speculate may be a

nod to ryan's home state. mitt romney told me he would be looking for a running mate that would indicate that he had a vision for the country and for romney, paul ryan may be that man. let me bring in andrea mitchell. setting it up, who knows if people are still sying awake, just waking up, or just coming home from dinner, going, today's the day. but in eight hours, we'll officially have the republican ticket, romney-ryan. something of a ticket that i've heard democrats talk about for six months. explain. >> democrats think there is an opportunity for them. they've been trying to demonize the ryan budget. this is their view of everything that's bad about the house republican caucus, the ryan budget. the deep budget cuts. they're very controversial, very painful. of course if you talk to paul ryan and his caucus, they would

say this is the budget that would bring america back and begin to spark economic growth. if you talk to most any democrats, it's exactly the opposite. these are painful, painful, budget cuts. so this is the divide. now we're going to have an election that's clearly going to be fought on this issue. i think you'd have to call it a game-change choice, because it's clear that mitt romney did not think that he could win as easily, perhaps, with the other people on the short list who were more conventional choices. >> we should bring people up to date on this week for mitt romney, this boom for paul ryan, as it leaked out what the short list was, rob portman, tim pawlenty and then it was learned paul ryan was on the short list. and it was never known for sure, i remember the first time we started tracking paul ryan, he, himself told our producer, you should be in ohio, what are you doing here?

even he didn't know at that time that he was truly being looked at as closely as he was. there had been a chorus of support growing for ryan among a group of conservatives here in washington and new york that, what would they have said, andrea, had he not gone with ryan and gone with one of the other two blander choices? >> mitt romney would have faced very strong conservative criticism especially after the wall street journal called for ryan to be the choice. so he was boxed in this that regard. he would have faced a rebellion from conservatives in his own party, the ones he had been trying to win over the contentious primary when he was not their first choice. so this could have become a big problem for him if he had not chosen ryan. but that said, he's buying into some other problems. clearly, they know this.

they know this is a more controversial choice, but ultimately, they've got to believe that by throwing the long ball, that they might actually score a touchdown. >> well, they do want to have brighter lines, as i had somebody said to me. one thing about ryan, yes, democrats are enthusiastic about him, but republicans want a bright line election too. they believe they can't just win on being anti-obama. going to peter alexander in norfolk, for what he thought might be just a bus trip. and in fact, it seemed that they were almost giving off the vibe of saying, yeah, we're going to tease you for another three, four days on this bus trip. you're going to have deal with our head fakes, but not at all. this is clearly the roll-out. are the senior folks with the campaign, are they up? are they at the bar? are they drinking? having a brat to celebrate? >> i brat would be a fitting celebration. we were with him only hours ago

in the lobby of the hotel where the campaign advisers are staying, having dinners and drinks with them in the neighborhood here and they were dark on it. they wouldn't say a thing about it. right now, despite a bus tour of reporters filling up the hotel, knocking on their doors, nobody's answering right now. they're waiting until tomorrow for the official announcement to be made. but az you've noted earlier, one of the most compelling points that we noticed, an indication that m something was on the immediate horizon was the fact that there are five senior advisers traveling with mitt romney right now, the first time in the last eight months that we've seen that many of his top advisers with him at a single time for a tour of this sort. they include eric furn strom, steen yor adviser, kevin madden, his wife ann, of course. bob white is one of his closest friends. stewart stevens, one of his top

strategists to name a few of the individuals who are here. picking up the conversation you were having with andrea about the fact this adds enthusiasm for republicans and democrats, top democrats have been e-mailing, making the point, the push to add paul ryan to the ticket was what they described as, quote, a recognition that the gop is not enthusiastic about romney. they're describing ryan as an extreme agenda. in the way romney folk were trying to get reporters on board with the fact that the president in his campaign has been so negative in attacking romney. it appears some of the top democrats are going after paul ryan. so even before he arrives on the ground in virginia, the harsh language is coming out. >> andrea mitchell, we know what democrats will try to do. but remind people what has been

the political landscape over the last six weeks. it's clear, mitt romney was taking on water. the president -- people can debate the sampling of the different polls that are out there, but nobody was disputing the fact that the period was ahead and mitt romney's unfavorables were rising. that was a problem. we are in august. if we were going to judge who won or lost the summer as far as up till july 31, now we can stay up till august 9 and 10, we can stay barack obama was winning the summer in the campaign. obviously they hope this provides a bump. we heard today from the romney campaign, that they hope that a combination of the running mate pick and the convention gives them anywhere from a five-to ten point bump. >> you're right. we in the media were looking at the incredible spin rate.

the democrat side and their supporters were spending money on tv ads at an extraordinarily fast rate. what they were doing was defining mitt romney before he defines himself. focusing on the tax issue, on bain, on everything negative they could throw at him. it was a really -- a hammering that he's taken this summer. on top of that, he had a bad foreign trip, which could have been a plus, but was something of a minus. i'm not sure how big a minus in the long stretch of things, but certainly did not go well for him. and as you point out, he was falling behind. and this, i assume, they think, could stem that blood-letting that's been going on all summer. they need to do something about the gender gap and i'm not sure how ryan helps them there. because the gender gap in a lot of battleground states is really bigger than it can be if he's

going to win this race. but they are winning with men. wisconsin, they're behind in wisconsin. this will help them in wisconsin. should point out that president obama won paul ryan's district last time around. >> that's right. and it's something we should point out about paul ryan, he's not -- he does not represent a, quote, safe republican district. he's made it safe. he's always been popular in his district even if his ideology was less popular. so he may show you something or give us a sign about his political, campaign skill, to hold a seat, that on paper, you could say it slightly leans republican, but it was never a slam dunk for him and certainly not the first time. this was les aspen's old seat. >> and wisconsin has been right in the middle of all the budget

wars and the wars over public employees and what scott walker has done. so wisconsin is a very hot state indeed. paul ryan can try to help mobilize that anger and mobilize it into a successful force for mitt romney if they do it right. it's certainly wide open for that kind of campaign. but the gender divide is a big deal, and, again, i'm not sure how ryan makes that appeal. because they're going to be talking about the issues that have become republican issues as well, especially among suburban women, and younger women, and their issues of choice and reproductive freedom. >> i'm joined by moderator of meet the press. david, you've been talking for months -- pay no attention to the campaign we're seeing. this is a big election. well, we're not waking up early this morning and tomorrow morning -- now that big

bright-lined election that you've been talking about may be taking place. >> and i think if you look at how the obama campaign is also talking about this campaign behind the scenes, they want as much of a distinction between these two candidates as possible. well, evidently mitt romney wants that as well. because he is now with his choice of a running mate, expected to be paul ryan, would paint a bright red line that says we're for this and the president is for something else completely different in terms of the role of government, what government ought to do in a down economy and how government ought to take on the very real problems of such a huge budget deficit and a fiscal imbalance. so that would send a very strong signal, and i think that's an important point right now about the kind of final stretch that we're going to see. bright lines, big distinctions between these two candidates. >> you know, and the other thing, david, you've been a lot of time with paul ryan.

and you've had a lot of people on your show, the ryan clan has been the center of the debate that you've been trying to encourage on "meet the press," and it's got one presidential candidate, frankly may have cost him any chance to get off the ground in newt gingrich. you can't get more sort of polarizing than the ryan plan, fair or unfair? >> well, if you remember, a big part of what the ryan budget included in terms of tackling medicare was introducing a voucher program into medicare, preserving it for seniors on the program, but for younger americans down the line, they would be given a voucher and enter into the private system. newt gingrich said it was right-wing social engineers, no better than left-wing social engineering. he was accosted pretty quickly by average voters who thought that was a terrible response.

and conservatives rallied. why? very quickly, paul ryan became the soul of fiscal conservatives in washington and beyond. he represented something very powerful within the party -- >> became a litmus test? >> he did. it's the kind of language ryan himself has used going back to other fights on the budget, even when republicans win, in terms of pork barrel spending and some of the other things they wanted to get out of the budget. but even this week with chris matthews, it was newt gingrich saying of ryan that he's the smartest strategic thinker in the party. so it shows you how far ryan has come in a relatively short period of time. then it goes to the point that you've been making, chuck, which this is a risk, because of what democrats will do to ryan, because he's a target-rich environment, particularly on medicare. but why it is that romney feltd

this is the risk that he needed to take. >> for mitt romney, this is as risky as he would go. when you think about it, it's sort of controlled risk. he knew he was going to own romney-ryan. you spent a lot of time with paul ryan personally and covering him. is he ready for the crush? >> well, i think he is. you know, one of the factors you look for here, we have a tendency when news break like this, to think it's going to be all about paul ryan. it's really not. still going to be all about mitt romney. but you talk about, what do you want a vice president to be able to do? energize the base you have here with paul ryan. can he give a tough speech? can he go after president obama? you bet he can. maybe a lot of people forget, paul ryan was the one who took on president obama in the initial meetings that the president had with house republicans even before they took over in 2010. so he's been an outspoken critic of the president. he can go out there on the stump and excite the base and raise

money and really take a tough message and a tough critique to president obama. beyond that, the crush, i think is always an adjustment. but he's pretty weathered now to being a target, certainly of this administration, because of the budget. so i think he'll be prepared for that. >> a few personal things i want to get out that are known about paul ryan to some. he is a fitness buff, if you will. >> yeah. >> and i forget which he was into, insanity or p90x. >> p90x. >> and he used to work out with a footballer on the hill, a big pro opponent of that? >> the congressman is a devoted family guy and is home when he can be. but obviously spends a lot of time in washington and has a very regimented schedule about how early he's up and works out

and trains, which he's very serious about, and how much he's working the rest of the time. so it's definitely a part of his personality. what's interesting is how -- you know, how honest he seemed to have been about how strongly he felt that he didn't want this national platform just yet, but a lot of politicians say that and i think he may have been overtaken by events in his own political career, not just the fact that mitt romney would ask him to join the ticket, but he was moving ahead very quickly in his own career. >> he was becoming a national figure. >> andrea, you and i talked about this, about his family. his wife is jana little, three kids, one daughter, liza, two sons. all of the children are at least under the age of 12, i think. but his wife -- >> right. >> -- has an interesting connection to a famous

democratic family. tell us more. >> jana little is the first cousin of the borns of oklahoma. david born, the long-time senator from oklahoma who retired, i believe, in 1992, chairman of the senate intelligence committee, now the president of the university of oklahoma, has been for many years, and his son is the congress member. so they are democrats. and in fact, jana little's sister lives in maryland and paul ryan when he's not sleeping in his office, i know this myself, he has said that he stays with his sister-in-law's family. he's a low maintenance guy and goes home to wisconsin and he's not part of d.c. in terms of the washington, d.c. -- >> let me get the children straight. charlie, sam, and liza. we'll all be learning about the

paul ryan family. and his wife there, jana little. >> david, going back to the moment we're in right now with mitt romney. he's behind. nobody's disputing this. he lost the summer, if you will, the preolympics period, the olympics are winding down. he's hoping to jump-start his own campaign, said he'd like to see a five to ten-point bump. ryan will give energy inside the party, but then what's the next step? >> let's talk about issues that people care about. they care about taxes. they care about the debt. they care about the economy. they care about the direction the country is moving in. there's a feeling in the romney campaign and certainly outside, among republicans, that romney has to do more than just say the status quo is unacceptable. he has to say what he would do to turn things around. he told you he's looking for somebody who's got that vision for the country, he's looking

for more bold leadership in a running mate. so this is an important moment for romney, a presidential-level decision. it's about the message that romney wants to send not only about how he would govern, which is important, but about how he wants to lead and what that vision is. so i think this paves the way leading up to the convention speech as well of mitt romney being very specific about what he thinks the turnaround plan is for america and for the american economy. and in paul ryan, he has a top surrogate now who is not only going to draw some real bold distinctions with president obama, but who is a strategic thinker about the budget, about the deficit, and about the debt-fueled challenges that america faces. >> david, do you think a pick like ryan, and making the romney-ryan plan, we know what the obama plan is on deficit

reduction and the philosophy on taxes. does that mean a close result, that november gives a mandate to washington on how they go about the fiscal cliff? >> well, i'm just not certain that mandate exists yet. there's a lot going on within republican circles in the senate, about whether there's more room for tax revenue, to break the grover nor quist ortho docks pledge on taxes. so paul ryan represents the gop insurgeancy in the house. but i don't know that there's a mandate there yet. i do know this. i think there's no question in this bright red line between these two campaigns is risky. you're now talking about putting medicare on the table in a way that can advantage the president and which by the way republicans

already knew it was coming. now you have in the picture the romney-ryan ticket. you think about a state like florida where that's going to matter. so that's where the risk is. >> democrats are champing at the bit. there's a new book with the middle class, a third of it is devoted to attacking the ryan budget. david, i want to jump to kelly o'donnell, kelly, you've got a little bit more context to how rob portman was informed about the vp selection. >> well, chuck, i've been told rob portman did receive a phone call from governor romney tonight letting him know that he would not be the choice. rob portman will go ahead with what he had planned to do on saturday, which is to ride in a bicycle race to benefit cancer research. portman, much like ryan, is an avid athlete and it's been something he's had on his schedule for quite some time.

having talked to rob portman quite a bit, covering him on the hill, one of the things he'd said, he will work as hard for mitt romney in ohio whether he's on the ticket or not, believing that for any -- >> a likely choice because he's done so well in his cincinnati house district. a state-wide office holder and won by big margins. although not a big name all across the state. you had mentioned earlier, had he been selected, there would have been a home-state boost that might have helped some say maybe as muchsa three points. portman was also considered a favorite choice among congress who believe that paul ryan, as a house member would be less likely simply because he was a member of the house and had not had the national kind of job

responsibilities that portman had had. but portman has been notified personally that he will not be his running mate. >> we now now tim pawlenty has been informed and rob portman has been officially informed. it also confirms what we've been reporting, the short list for the last week. not any other phone calls, that the short list had narrowed to three and perhaps it was that short for even longer and maybe that's something we'll find out. but to the point of rob portman and tim pawlenty going through this process and not being picked, you've seen others that have not gone through this process. what does it still do for their careers? >> it's very painful. i think when you get passed over once, let's try to think whether someone has been passed over once and then been chosen. perhaps john edwards was in the

mix earlier on, one time prior, but i think once you get passed over, it's very, very difficult. the exposure, the -- what you've been through, the fact that all of us, all the networks have been staked out outside of their homes, and we've been trying not to bother them and their families and be very low key about it, but they've been through a pretty torturous process, plus, turning over all of their personal data, going through those interviews, being asked, is there anything about your personal life, what did you do in college, what about your romantic life? did you ever take drugs? all your tax returns. let's face it, that's one question that the romney people have not shared is whether they asked for more tax returns than he has been willing to deliver as the nominee. presummative nominee. and as the candidate for president. >> david gregory, i want to go back to the issue of paul ryan.

we know what he brings as far as definition on the ticket and issues, but this is a person with just a congressional resume. not a lot of foreign policy experience. does that leave romney vulnerable at all? >> well, i think it does. there will be questions about his experience. can you picture him in the white house as president being a heart beat away from the presidency? so those questions will come up. i think romney will be prepared to deal with that. the reality is, what he's chosen is someone who really is a big strategic thinker on the budget, a controversial thinker, but someone who is certainly a strong conservative on those issues. let's not forget in this conversation how much suspicion there still is among conservatives about mitt romney. and it was reinforced this week, just on the issue of health

care. so in paul ryan, he's found somebody who can continue to energize that base. i know people will say, well, where are they going? social kivatives and fiscal conservatives will be there for romney anyway, but i think he was looking for a way to really find somebody who was considered a visionary among conservatives to make sure that he was by his side, as suspicions linger about him, romney. so i think that's the biggest piece of what you get. >> another part of this, i want to bring in luke russ ert. luke, i know you want to talk about another factor here that doesn't get talked about with paul ryan, but i'll be honest with you, it's something the campaign itself said to me which is, don't underestimate his blue-collar roots. tell me more about it. >> not at all, chuck. one thing mitt romney's had a problem with in this campaign is coming across as too elite eft

and paul ryan is about as down to earth a politician as you'll ever meet. he walks around capitol hill with ear phones on, at times listening to nirvana. he'll talk to the press core about his hunting trips in wisconsin. sometimes he goes bow-hunting. he talks about the packers, about his days on capitol hill, going to a few of the local watering holes at that time. a very down to earth, personal politician and is not awkward, something mitt romney's had a problem with during this campaign. here's a guy who can go out to any room, and talk in high-faluting language and resonate a message that makes sense. i was there last week when he was talking to a delegation of folks from illinois, he followed charlie rangel, one of those

bipartisan events. you had people come out of there, i real like charlie, but that paul ryan, he's such a smart guy. that's his ability to connect and he does it on a personal level. so for someone like romney who's had trouble connecting personally with the voters, ryan is a very good selection. >> and obviously ryan needs to get his sales pitch on, because selling medicare and andrea mitchell, we talked about this before, the third state on this bus trip is florida. and it is my understanding that when governor romney was reaching out to various people to sort of get their opinions on the members of the short list, even governor romney would say, yes, would sort of acknowledge, i know this is going to create challenges in florida. >> it is going to create challenges in florida and other states. pennsylvania has a large elderly population and other states as well, where you have seniors, concerned about medicare, other people concerned about medicaid

and food stamps, which are cut in the ryan budget. but the medicare issue has been costed out to show by non-partisan puth experts in the congressional budget office that seniors would end up spending more for their health care under the ryan budget. and their system of privatization that has been proposed as part of the ryan budget would become very controversial on this campaign trail. >> david gregory, the one other thing about paul ryan, not only the budget, but something else, he was a member of the bowls simpson commission and he voted no on bowles-simpson which is something everybody claims to be for now. >> romney will point out as this defense of medicare gets going, that he initially supported the ryan plan, but then modified it to allow seniors to stay in current medicare or make the choice that was part of the ryan model, but this debate is far

from over and they're going to have to deal with that. back to luke's point because it's important. if you think about how ryan complements romney, i think luke's exactly right. he's a natural campaigner, a very easy politician, paul ryan is. can he go out there and energize the republican crowd? yes, he can do that. can he do it in working-class sections of the country just like joe biden's doing for president obama? yes, he can do that. he can be a huge fund-raiser because he'll energize conservatives with the fiscal message he's got. if you think about all those areas, including the convention where paul ryan will have such a big role, he really can perform very, very well. that's on the one side of the ledger and the other side is that he's going to be a huge target on medicare. >> all right, david, stick around. we'll take a short break. but just to recap, sources tell

nbc news that mitt romney's vice presidential pick will be congressman paul ryan of wisconsin. the announcement will take place at 9 -- well, later this morning. we'll be carrying that live here on msnbc and all of nbc. we'll be right back. on a desolay in your jeep grand cherokee. and when you do, you'll be grateful for the adaptive cruise control that automatically adjusts your speed when approaching slower traffic. and for the blind spot monitoring that helps remind you that the highway might not be as desolate... ...as you thought. ♪

>> as we've been reporting here for some 90 minutes, multiple sources now tell us that mitt

romney, tomorrow morning at 9:00 in forfok, virginia will name his running mate and that running mate will be paul davis ryan, republican congressman from wisconsin. paul ryan being selected over two other people on the short list and have been informed by -- at least one has been informed by governor romney that he's not the pick, rob portman and former minnesota tim pawlenty. let's go to david gregory. we've been talking about this before. you've been saying big election, obviously the romney campaign wanted to send a message. governor romney said to me yesterday in that interview that we were doing when i was asking when he was going to have a vp. he clearly seemed to define paul ryan, that's what all of us gleaned out of it. >> and the fact that this is going to be a big campaign about

a debate about big things. you wouldn't know that over the past couple of weeks with some of what's been going on and the charges back and forth and what they've been focused on. but the reality is, there are huge issues, in a down economy, what role should government be playing, and now particularly when the government is not only dysfunctional, but running a huge deficit. paul ryan speaks to a vision for what government should and should not be doing, particularly in a party that's ever more conservative about questions of fiscal rektitude and the debt and that's the party that mitt romney is now running that he's now the nominee for. so ryan, in that sense, makes a lot of sense for mitt romney. and also don't discount just that personal chemistry. there's a reason why this process goes on very secretly, very privately, and why it's so private to the nominee, to make that decision. i think about george w. bush who

is the one to say to dick cheney, look, there's one person not on that list and that's you. that sense of how are we going to govern together because the vice president is a much more significant player and that could be the case in a romney administration. >> andrea, as excited as bill crystal at "the wall street journal" and a lot of economic conservatives are going to be tomorrow morning and are right now about paul ryan, they're just as giddy at a lot of democratic campaign headquarters, not just the big one in chicago. >> well, for one thing, we've been focusing on the medicare cuts and the fact that it would privatize, have a voucher system and most seniors would spend more money. that will be a hot topic at one of their initial stops on the bus tour in florida. buthe other piece of it is that there's a tax cut that will

benefit millionaires in the ryan budget as well. they believe his economic theory is that tax cuts as mitt romney has said, tax cuts are good and productive and they will create jobs. but you know that the obama people think that's just grist for their mill. >> there's one study that shows that a good chunk of the tax benefits will go to people who make more than a million dollars per year. that's something you'll hear over and over again. it's one of those things. kelly o'donnell, give us a little background if you will, on paul ryan, the congressman first elected in 1998. i remember the election. it was one of those swing districts, we followed my old days at the hotline. it's les aspen's old seat, the late democrat from wisconsin. he was elected at 28. yet he's been there for almost

two decades. >> one of the things people will see in paul ryan, he looks like a young man, but he does have more experience than his youthful appearance would indicate, experience as a member of congress. he worked for jack kemp as a speech writer during his campaign. when i talked to him, he said he was inspired by the jack kemp model of an inclusive conservativism. he talks in interviews i've done with him and with many others, about not demonizing opponents. he can be very tough. he can be very cutting about the policies of opponents, about you he doesn't get into personal attacks. and that's a style that may be helpful to romney. it may attract more of the independent voters. we know voters typically don't vote based on the vp selection, but in terms of giving the ticket another look, those are characteristics i've been struck by, that personal quality he brings to interacting with

people. he remains calm and away from the bluster that's become common among many politicians who rise to the forefront. he's gone the wonky route and done so proudly, wanting to learn about the numbers, he's got a degree in economics and on capitol hill had responsibility to drill down on issues and look at numbers and try to deal with the facts. he's clearly a conservative in a social sense, that will appeal to christian conservatives and so forth, but he's not a culture warrior, not someone who comes out talking about those issues when you've had the so-called war on women for the past several months where romney has taken hits on that type of issue, paul ryan doesn't fall into that. he's not someone who's hitting those issues in a way that enflames people. he tends to try and be as calm and direct and thoughtful about things and that has appealed.

the issues he's dealing with and the serious conservativism that he talks about and has been trying to represent and push forward, is plenty for democrats to chew on. i had a democratic source who said, wow, this is christmas come early and dropped the names of two members of the democrat party who was elected to house seats, and in both of those races, the whole issue of what happens with medicare, tying it to paul ryan, who wasn't a part of either race, but he was another figure in these races and democrats won running against paul ryan. so plenty for democrats to talk about, but stillisticly it's a calmer voice in a time of heated and ugly politics. >> a tip for any of our friends in the print reporting communities wanting to know how is the ryan budget, you can go to neighboring states, where you have a republican candidate running ads against the ryan

budget and a democrat candidate also running ads against the ryan budget. one of the things you hear about paul ryan, he's not a political guy and that used to frustrate some house republicans. >> yes. he's someone who actually enjoys having a spirited debate. he would not always go and say the partisan sort of talking points that would be demeaning of somebody. he likes to have the debate elevated. if you ever go to the republican press conferences, a lot of times you'll see boehner and kanter, railing against the president, say he's been a wol for however many months, but ryan actually goes after the president specifically, saying, this is why our children are not going to have an opportunity to schedule because the president is enacting this policy which leads to this amount of debt.

it's such a difference from sara palin, as someone who was a flame-thrower. this is almost like what you guys mentioned before, the high-brow conservatives, sort of the people that like to win, what they believe to be the true facts, instead of the fiery, spirited rhetoric. >> david gregory, ryan-biden debate preview. help me out with it. >> he's a very disciplined -- he will be a very disciplined campaigner. i had him on the program recently where the issue of guy marriage was coming up and he objected on the air to talking about it. he said this election is about the debt crisis in the country. so i think he'll be focused there and willing to engage in the fight with biden over what went wrong with how close they were on a grand bargain on the debt. he is going to be a top

spokesman for the commampaign o all issues related to the debt crisis. again, i come back to the point of what's the message that mitt romney wanted to send, that he wants to be bold and creating a distinction on these issues of the economy, not just economic growth, but how the government has completely botched fiscal sanity. and they want to use ryan to lead that charge and in that way, it's very complimentary. >> do you feel like you have a sense of his foreign policy? >> no, not particularly. i think he's going to have to develop that. i think there's a whole range of issues upon which he'll be tested and he'll have to develop views. he'll be certainly behind in that regard as you talk about a vice presidential debate with vice president biden. but let's be clear. foreign affairs will not

dominate this campaign. what will dominate is the economy, questions of debt, and the role of government. i think that's among the reasons why ryan was chosen. you know, here was senator obama who had a huge national security gap when he was up against john mccain. that was a big part of why he chose senator biden. that's not the calculation this time around. >> andrea mitchell, when it comes to sort of loorking king s ticket and matching up ryan and biden, what do you see there? and is the ryan-washington experience, the fact that all of his experience is washington, whether as a staffer, is it all going to be a handy cap to him? >> with some audiences, sure it will be, but you can't be more washington than joe biden. there are similarities. both blue collar, both scrappy, both fighters.

it will be interesting to watch the two of them go up against each other. both very good verbally, but there you will have a generational change as well and that will be a big contrast. i agree with david and you that this is clearly going to be fought on economic policy and very bright lines and sharp contrast. you do have to pass somewhat of a test on foreign policy and show that you're ready for that 3:00 a.m. phone call, but that's mostly for the top of the ticket, less so for the vice presidential candidates. certainly that's the strength of joe biden. paul ryan, i think, with some studying is going to show that he can handle the big questions, which are going to be clearly, iran, syria, and israel and they're staking out a very hardline. you can see who they have been bringing along as their advisers. >> i want to pick up on something david said about his

interview with paul ryan about guy marriage. you can say that when you're not running for national office. when you're running for national office, you're going to have a harder time being able to dictate what topics you want to discuss. it's different when you're on a national ticket because everything is on your plate. whether you like it or not. how does he -- how will paul ryan handle that? >> it's also different when you've been acting as a surrogate, when you can redirect back to the issues where you're comfortable. so it will be a big challenge for paul ryan. at the same time, he's had some experience with that, as members of congress do, because they are tested by their constituents and they are pressed in person. he's one of those who's done constituent work with town hall meetings and having been on the trail with him, people don't have any problem challenging their congressman in person and vigorously. so he has some sense of confidence in doing that.

he will talk about, i would imagine, the fact that some of these so-called, religious, cultural issues are not where his focus is. so he will likely give an answer on the issue that he supports, and then try to move back to some of the issues that are his expertise. it will be a challenge, but he'll try to help pull the ticket away from some of hose hot-button issues, because he can credibley argue that isn't where he's made his political career. that isn't where he's invested himself and not where he's scored political points. so he has credibility there to step away from some of those issues without some of the -- when we think of other candidates who are in the republican field where they would have jumped right in. paul ryan is not one of those. so these will be challenges of how he will have to stand in the -- kind of the white-hot spotlight, but there's a confidence and he's been a very

vocal and visible surrogate, with some chance to test that out. i'm sure that sources and those close to mitt romney, helping him make the decision, i'm sure they reviewed a lot of tapes, he's been a frequent guest on programs because he's an able debater and gives responses. so that's part of what they must have calculated in looking at paul ryan as the second name on this ticket. >> let's go to our producer who has been following around paul ryan for weeks. he said you've been following him enough that he thinks you're a member of his family. set the scene on the ground. are more people showing up? have you seen much movement? what can you tell us? >> well, there was a group of spectators that turned up when they heard the news. but we've not seen any movement here for a few hours now.

he attended the memorial for the victims of the shooting last week that happened in his district. paul ryan has spent the whole week here in wisconsin, did a couple closed fund raisers for some gop candidates, filming some tv ads for his congressional re-election campaign that he has been going forward with, until, i guess now. but paul ryan is a big family man, as you've been discussing. he enjoys being here with his family. told me that he even took his youngest son to washington, to session, a couple weeks ago. he comes home on the weekends. he wants to be around and be with his family. he was supposed to go on a vacation tomorrow to colorado. obviously that's not going to happen. but looks like his bags are packed and ready to go to virginia in the morning. >> made it easier to cover up to the kids of why they were packing. maybe he knew before others did. let me go to one of your

colleagues. while the campaign is not going to wisconsin, they got some wisconsin in one of our folks that follows around mitt romney, our campaign embeds there. garrett, you've been walking around the uss wisconsin. is the type of place that will look good for the vice presidential roll-out? >> it will be perfectly fitting. the police have moved a small group of reporters back and back and back and now off the property altogether. but there are a handful of romney staffers inside, setting up the stage. we can see them hanging enormous banners, there's a mitt romney flag, a u.s.-virginia flag, have not seen any romney-ryan signage or anything to indicate the choice of the pick here on the ground so far. but as folks continue to get moved further and further back, there are still trucks going in occasionally and other vehicles. we've been told reporters will

be allowed back on the ground at 4:00 tomorrow morning. so folks setting up for their live shots ought to get an opportunity to check out the set of the romney campaign. they've shown craftsmanship so far at the events they've had. with the battleship behind me, that should be the case against tomorrow morning. >> garrett, we've been talking for every little sign. you pointed out a few hours ago, you wouldn't believe the senior leadership that's following the campaign. i know you sent a note saying the entire senior team seems to be with romney. something is up. thank you very much. >> i want to talk about paul ryan and about the battleground. david, when we talk about ryan and about the one issue, we got to remind people where he's from, wisconsin, and wisconsin

has been the center arguably of this debate about what is the relationship between government and the people. >> well, and more specifically, how does government deal with budget problems? and how does it bring its budget deficit to heel? that's what a lot of states are facing, including wisconsin. and scott walker took on public unions, took on the pension programs, and was willing to break a lot of china. and ultimately prevailed and withstood a recall effort. so that's the state from which paul ryan comes. the immediate question on the presidential level is whether, on the battleground map, which we still classified wisconsin as a battleground state, although it's been very tough for republicans. so can paul ryan carry his state, or can he only make it more competitive? it's been a long time since 1988

since the republicans have carried the state. >> andrea, one of the things about the final short list of three, they all had one other thing in common, besides being three white guys. they all hailed from the midwest, the industrial midwest of ohio and portman closer to the -- that's no accident. there's no path to 270 without two states in that midwest region. ohio, pennsylvania, michigan, throw them in there, he's got to win two of them. >> romney is behind in wo wisconsin, but that can be overtaken. you're going to have an -- all

those who geared up for this referendum will be front and center to pull romney through in wisconsin, but you're right, the battleground is clearly through the midwest. you have economic factors to talk about. it's not just what we've imagined living with. now you have the drought, an area being hit by an act of god, by nature. it's having real effects with corn and with other crops too. corn is in every aspect of the economy. so you'll have farmers who are really hurting and that is something that makes the midwest even that more volatile for both sides. >> david, we talked about the geographical, now we have the demographic and the issue of seniors, and the issue of medicare and that brings us to florida and the third stop, i think, frankly the most important stop of this roll-out. now when we look at it. tomorrow is always important, the first roll-out, but the message when they hit the state

of florida the first time, that's a big deal. i know for a fact that it's something governor romney himself is concerned about. >> they don't have time to get ahead of this, or else they get quickly defined and being behind on medicare. buzz it's not just senior voters in florida, but the question of the middle class and whether paul ryan's views about taxes, entitlement, reform is ultimately going to be something abhorrent to middle-class voters, the key voting group that the president wants to make this a contest over and wants to ultimately win. so there will be a lot of upfront work to do on what will be his biggest liability. there's no question mitt romney has thought this through about all the down sides to picking paul ryan and the medicare is flashing bright lights, but it's the overall message that a lot of romney advisers i talked to are talking about the need for romney to address, vp roll-out,

in his convention speech, how is he going to win the middle class, particularly with liabilities he faces in his own biography. >> and andrea, looking at other parts of the battleground, you know, whether ryan is a factor, does his youth help at all? perhaps at colorado and virginia, two of the younger states, if you will, in the battleground with some independent voters who may be less sensitive on the entitlement front. >> yes, i think the independent voters, some of the young marrieds and younger voters who are concerned about the solvency and the budget issues, the tea party energy that might be reignited by this, it's not an accident they're starting in virginia. one analogy in florida, think back to 1992 as to who won the new hampshire primary. it was paul songas. then he got clobbered in florida. >> that's right. >> when they went south, bill

clinton called him all kinds of -- just demonized what he was talking about in terms of social security insolvency and he referred to clinton as a panda bear and that doesn't work. that was the end of songas's campaign. democratic primaries have shown how treacherous florida can be when anyone tries to speak very tough talk about medicare and the budget. >> go ahead, david. >> let's remember, too, the phrase change medicare as we know it. we've been through the health care debate and how easy it was to define something that was complex in a really negative way. democrats have had a lot of experience doing this on the issue of medicare. they'll come out of the gate starting tomorrow, he's the guy that wants to change medicare as you know it, paul ryan, in a down economy for middle-class senior voters who depend on this, and these guys want to dismantle it. what they'll have to counteract

is do we want to slide toward european socialism, we have to make tough decisions. so boldness will be applauded. no question that's part of romney's strategy, to independent voters as well. >> luke russert, you're our guy, spent a lot of time on the house side. there's a lot of house democrats that want to run on the ryan plan. it's now going to be hard for any republican to run away from. i know denny reburg, a house member right now, voted against the ryan plan and is trying to use that to his advantage. but it will be hard to be a republican and be against ryan now. >> absolutely. one thing we have to remember about this, in terms of the ryan plan and kelly touched on it earlier, but i can't emphasize how important it is for democrs. kathy from western new york, ran

in a district with chris lee, who had to resign. it was a republican-leaning district. there are signs outside buffalo, new york, that said vote democratic, save medicare and that message will be pounded away, just like david said. as for republicans running away from the ryan budget, i think that mitt romney making this decision now, they're doubling down on it. and in terms of the messaging on this, i just read a report, working on confirming it, but heard rumors about it. michael steele, john boehner's press secretary is now most likely going to be working for paul ryan in the romney campaign. boehner's top press people will now be working for paul ryan as the vp. they are keen on messaging, hammering this home and try to deflect from the negative things coming out of medicare before.

and they're pretty good at doing that. this is certainly the big leagues, if you will, chuck. >> for better or worse, depending on which side you're on, this is exactly what president obama wanted to have. he can say, i'm running against the house republicans. that's when they've been trying to do. they've been dying to tie mitt romney to house republicans, mitt romney's saying, fine, yes, that's my vision. let's go. >> we talked about the polling, if you look at how incredibly polarized the country is, the percentage of republicans who dislike the president, the percentage of democrats who dislikes mitt romney, it augers for more of a base selection. it's the first point i made coming on early this morning, which is the obama campaign wants bright lines between these candidates. i'm for this. this guy is for that. you have that now with paul ryan on the ticket for sure. >> all right, i want to do shoutouts to everybody that's been here, david